Pacita met Jack Garrity at a World Affairs conference on "17-Mile Drive" in Monterey, California, and soon after the two of them began a 31-year global odyssey.

Jack was planning to take a year off from graduate school and travel to Asia. Pacita was torn whether to go to law school, or travel across Asia, but in the end decided to defer her acceptance for a year.

Pacita and Jack then spent a year hitchhiking overland across the "Hippy Highway" from Turkey to the Philippines: crossing Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The trip was a cultural eye opener and had an enormous impact on Pacita. She was fascinated by Asia and the people, colors, scents, fabrics and textures that she encountered along the way.

The welcome return to her family and friends in the Philippines made Pacita very happy, but unfortunately, weather conditions made it impossible to go to Batanes. They then decided to head south and hitch hiked from Manila all the way to Zamboanga, giving Pacita her first opportunity to explore a new part of her country.

Pacita returned to California in 1974 after her year-long travel a changed woman. At that point, she made a life changing decision that she wanted to become a painter, instead of an immigration lawyer.

While Jack finished his graduate studies, they lived in a one-room cabin on a ranch in the foothills outside of Palo Alto. Pacita took a job as a secretary at the Stanford Medical School, with the understanding that once he got a job she would begin her formal art studies.